The Forgotten Guardian

[Empire Calendar 421, 5th Month, 1st]

After hours of exhausting training, I sat cross-legged in the middle of the training ground, my breath steady but body aching from the strain.

Even after refining my Qi with the Plum Blossom Qi Cultivation Technique, something still felt... incomplete.

Leonard (thinking): My Qi is progressing, but it's not stable.

There's a clash between my body's natural mana and the Qi I'm trying to cultivate.

No matter how I tried to harmonize the two, they resisted each other, causing my energy flow to stagnate.

If I kept forcing it, my meridians would suffer damage.

Then a memory surfaced. Chun Ma's approach was different.

He had forcefully broken through bottlenecks, shattering his limitations using sheer will and Demonic Qi. But if I followed that path… I might cripple myself.

Leonard (thinking): No. That's not the right way. If I want to wield both Chun Ma's and Chung Yung's powers, I need to balance them.

I recalled something from Chun Ma's memories...a lost technique.

The Yin-Yang Resonance Method. It was meant to stabilize conflicting energies by using their differences to strengthen each other instead of fighting for dominance.

I focused, guiding my Qi and mana through separate circuits in my body, then slowly letting them intertwine at a single point at ...my dantian.

As the energies merged, I felt a deep, chilling sensation spread from within.

Thump.

A strange pulse echoed inside my chest. The moment my Qi stabilized, something responded.

Leonard (thinking): What… was that?

The cold energy didn't fade. Instead, it led me somewhere—deeper into the mansion.

I stood up, my exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

I followed the sensation, moving past the grand halls and dusty corridors, descending deeper than I thought the mansion even went.

The underground was dark, silent. Every step forward made the pulse stronger, as if something...or someone...was waiting.

And then, I found it.

A massive stone door, covered in ancient runes, stood before me.

The markings glowed faintly, reacting to my presence. I could feel an overwhelming power sealed behind it.

Leonard (thinking): A hidden chamber… in the middle of nowhere? What is this place really hiding?

There was no lock, no visible handle. Only an indentation at the center, shaped like an open palm.

I hesitated for a moment before pressing my hand against it.

The runes flared to life.

Rumble.

The entire room trembled as the stone door slowly creaked open, revealing a dark chamber within.

A single entity lay in the center.

A statue? No… a person.

A massive figure, clad in obsidian-black armor, sat on a throne of stone. Chains covered its body, sealing it in place.

The moment the door fully opened, its head slowly lifted.

Its voice rumbled like distant thunder, yet carried a strange, ethereal grace.

??? : "...Who dares disturb my slumber?"

My blood ran cold.

Leonard (thinking): What the hell… did I just wake up?

The armored figure slowly stood, the chains rattling against its form.

Then, as the dust settled, I realized something—this was no monstrous guardian.

The body beneath the heavy black armor had a distinct feminine shape.

Her piercing gaze settled on me, glowing through the helmet's visor.

She studied me in silence before speaking again.

??? : "Strange… you are not like the others. Your energy… it is unfamiliar."

Leonard (thinking): She doesn't recognize Qi? Then she must be from this world…

To honest that is kinda given cause Qi is from another world entirely.

The realization sent a shiver down my spine.

That meant whatever she was, she had only ever known mana and elements.

She stepped forward, tilting her head slightly as if peering through me.

??? : "Interesting… your affinities are vast. Ice, fire, earth… and thunder. Your soul is not bound by one element alone."

Leonard (thinking): Ice, fire, earth, and thunder..

huh..

•_•

She can even see my natural affinities.

I clenched my fist. If Qi was unknown in this world, then perhaps that was why it clashed with my mana.

This world wasn't built to contain both.

Leonard: "Who… are you?"

She paused, then placed a gauntleted hand on her chest.

??? : "I am the Forgotten Guardian. The keeper of this place… or at least, I was. Time has made my purpose unclear. Tell me, boy, what has become of the world outside?"

Her voice carried no malice, only curiosity. But I couldn't shake the tension in the air. This being was powerful—overwhelmingly so.

Leonard: "The world is still the same… but I have a feeling you wouldn't recognize it."

She hummed softly, almost amused.

Guardian: "Perhaps. But let us not waste time. You have awoken me, and by doing so, you have drawn my interest. Show me—what manner of warrior are you?"

The ground trembled beneath us.

Leonard (thinking): A test…

I raised my sword, my grip tightening.

Leonard: "If it's a fight you want… then I won't hold back."

The End of the Chapter.